2. HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
THE HISTORY OF BUDDHISM SPANS IN THE 6TH
CENTURY
BCE TO THE PRESENT
IT STARTED WITH THE BIRTH OF BUDDHA SIDDHARTHA
GAUTAMA ON THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.
THE RELIGION EVOLVED AS IT SPREAD FROM THE
NORTHEASTERN REGION OF THE INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT THROUGH CENTRAL, EAST, AND
SOUTHEAST ASIA.
THE HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IS ALSO CHARACTERIZED BY
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUMEROUS MOVEMENTS,
SCHISMS, AND SCHOOLS, THE Therav daā
Mah y na and Vajray na TRADITIONS WITHā ā ā
CONTRASTING PERIODS OF EXPANSION AND RETREAT.
3. Buddhism take the spirit world and the Buddhist
community of the whole universe to assigned
into the 10th world, "hell boundary, hungry
ghosts sector and beasts, community the Asura
sector, the human world, and heaven sector " or
the “Six fans sector ” which are “The Shengwen
sector, Pratyeka sector, Bodhisattva, the
Buddhist community, more than ‘four Gordon
profession’.”
In other words, the Buddha is the highest, the
Bodhisattva followed.
4. Also known as BUDDHA,
Gautama Buddha or Siddh rthaā
BUDDHA was a spiritual teacher
from the Indian Subcontinent, on
whose teaching BUDDHISM was
founded
THE WORD “BUDDHA” MEANS
“AWAKENED ONE” OR “THE
ENLIGHTENED ONE”
如來佛祖(RU LAI FO ZU)
5. Buddha
Where the Buddhism's most
respected, is the most advanced
and most worshiped by the
others between the Fifteen
Buddhist gods.
"Buddha", Sanskrit Buddha,
which means "knowledge” or
"Awakening", originally referred
to the Buddhist cultivator
knows to understand the
teachings of Buddhism "karma.”
Descendants of Sakyamuni by
Buddhists to be deified Buddha
Sakyamuni also become like
God in general.
6. Bodhisattva Group
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva
is either an enlightened (bodhi)
existence (sattva) or an
enlightenment-being or, given
the variant Sanskrit spelling
satya rather
than sattva, "heroic-minded
one (satva) for enlightenment
(bodhi)."
Traditionally, a bodhisattva is
anyone who, motivated by
great compassion, has
generated bodhicitta, which is
a spontaneous wish to
attain Buddha hood for the
benefit of all sentient beings.
7. The bodhisattva is
a popular subject
in Buddhist art.
In early Indian
Buddhism, for
example, the term
bodhisattva was
primarily used to
refer specifically to
the Buddha
Shakyamuni in his
former lives.
Bodhisattva Group
8. Shrine to Mazu
Goddess of the sea
Inside a typical temple, it
is considered quite
common to see elements
of Buddhism and Taoism
mixed together.
A statue of Guan Yin may
be present alongside
traditionally Taoist deities
such as the Jade Emperor
or Mazu.
10. Temple
A Chinese temple can refer to any temple
which is used for the practice of Chinese folk
religion, a conglomeration of China's three
main religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and
Confucianism.
Chinese Buddhist temples are different from
these temples, most of which also act as a
monastery.
Chinese temples are also a common sight
outside of Mainland China, including most parts
of East Asia and across the world where there is
a plurality of Chinese-descent residents.
11. Architecture of Temple
Chinese temples are usually red in color, although gold
ones exist as well. The architecture is traditionally
Chinese in style, and they are decorated extensively
with sculptures and sometimes traditional Chinese
paintings. Larger temples may be built as a compound,
with an outer wall and often a courtyard. In the
courtyard there may be a chimney-like structure made
of bricks, or this may be located outside the temple.
This is used for burning joss paper to the Gods,
ancestors or spirits. The temple may include a section
for burning large incense coils. Over the entrance of the
temple compound there will be a plaque with the
name of the temple in Chinese (usually the characters
are read from right to left).
13. At the entrance to the main temple area, there
will be a large container for burning joss sticks
or incense. It will generally be filled with ash,
and it is into the ash that the incense or joss
sticks are placed. In some temples, however, the
incense burner may be placed further inside. If
the incense burner is placed on a table, oil
lamps may be placed beside the incense burner,
to allow worshippers to light the incense. If the
incense burner is free-standing there will
generally be a table in front of it with a lamp to
light the incense from. Some temples have three
or more incense burners. There may also be
holders for stick candles, and "wish candles"
may be placed in front of the incense burner.
15. On the far wall of the temple will be placed the main shrine.
There are usually three main shrines in a temple, and there
may be smaller ones as well in other parts of the temple. For
example, the Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur has three
shrines: One to Shui Wei Sheng Niang, the waterfront
goddess, one to Mazu, the sea goddess, and one to Guan
Yin, the benevolent goddess.
Shui Wei Sheng
Niang
Guan Yin Mazu
16. The altar is usually made out of wood, and it
usually has several different levels, with the
statue placed on the highest one. Usually two
vases of flowers will be placed in front of and
to the side of the statue. Offerings of fruits are
placed on the altar, arranged in a pyramid
shape. Oil lamps are also placed on a lower
level of the altar, and typically consist of a
glass filled with oil, with a wick placed in a
cork floater. Sometimes the statues are placed
in glass-fronted cabinets, and wooden tables
are placed in front of them to hold the
required paraphernalia. Padded cushions for
kneeling are usually placed in front of the altar.
